1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner in which a dust collecting unit for collecting foreign materials sucked together with air is mounted to a main body from above.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vacuum cleaner is an apparatus which sucks air containing foreign materials using a vacuum pressure generated by a suction force of a motor installed in a main body, collects the foreign materials in the dust collecting unit, and then casts away the collected foreign materials. Thus, since the foreign materials collected in the dust collecting unit should be cast away periodically, the dust collecting unit is detachably mounted to the main body.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a vacuum cleaner for filtering in a cyclonic fashion. According to this, a suction means providing a suction force for sucking air is provided in a main body 1 formed in a predetermined shape. A dust collecting unit 2 is detachably mounted to the main body 1. The dust collecting unit 2 collects foreign materials in the cyclonic fashion.
A hose 3 of flexible material is installed at a side of the main body 1, wherein the hose 3 is in communication with the suction means and the dust collecting unit 2 in the main body 1, and then functions to transmit the air containing the foreign materials to the dust collecting unit 2 by the suction force of the suction means.
The hose 3 is connected to an extension tube 4. A suction nozzle 5 is installed at a front end of the extension tube 4, and then sucks the foreign materials together with the air in an objective area for cleaning. A handle portion 6, which a user grips to operate the vacuum cleaner, is provided at a side of the extension tube 4, and a switch 7 for switching on or off the vacuum cleaner is provided adjacent to the handle portion 6.
Wheels 8 for causing the vacuum cleaner to travel are provided at a side of the main body 1. The wheels 8 having a predetermined diameter are provided at both ends of the main body 1, respectively. For the more smooth movement of the main body 1, a roller (not shown) is provided on an undersurface of the main body 1.
In the meantime, the main body 1 is provided with a discharge portion 9. The discharge portion discharges the air, which is sucked through the suction nozzle 5, and from which the foreign materials are filtered out, to an outside of the main body 1 while the air passes through the extension tube 4, the hose 3, and the dust collecting unit 2. Reference numeral 10 designates a power cord for supplying the vacuum cleaner with electric power for driving the vacuum cleaner.
However, the prior art vacuum cleaner has some problems as follows.
That is, in the prior art, the dust collecting unit 2 is provided at a rear side of the main body 1, and then is constituted so as to be detached or mounted in the direction in which the main body 1 moves by the wheels 8. Therefore, when the user intends to detach or mount the dust collecting unit 2, there is a problem in that the user should grip the main body 1 by one hand and handle the dust collecting unit 2 by the other hand.
In addition, since the conventional dust collecting unit 2 is inserted and mounted into the main body 1 without any separate fixing structure, there is a problem in that the dust collecting unit 2 can easily get removed by an impact applied from the outside.
Furthermore, the dust collecting unit 2 functions to connect the hose 3 and a side of the discharge portion 9 to be in communication with each other in the main body 1. If a mounting state of the dust collecting unit becomes disturbed by an external impact, the hose 3 and the discharge portion 9 are not in smooth communication with each other. Thus, the suction force of the suction means is not smoothly formed, so that there is a problem in that performance of the cleaner is deteriorated.
Moreover, if the dust collecting unit 2 is not in smooth communication with the hose 3 and the discharge portion 9, there is a problem in that the cleaner gets out of order since foreign materials are transmitted in the main body 1 through a portion where they are not properly connected with each other.